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Top Icebreaker Activities Part Six

Icebreaker activities are used to welcome and warm up the conversation among students in a new class, meeting or new situation. Any event that requires students to comfortably interact with each other and a teacher is an opportunity to use an icebreaker to help students feel more comfortable. An effective icebreaker will warm up the conversation in your class or meeting, reinforce the topic of the session, and ensure that students enjoy their interaction and the session. When participants don’t know each other, the icebreaker will help them introduce themselves to the other students.

Silent Count

Equipment: None

Description: Silent Count can be played anywhere. The aim of the game is to count to 20 or however many students you have in the class. The only rule is each student can only say one number once. If two students say the same number at the same time then you start again, or if numbers are repeated you start again. Students are not allowed to point or prompt other students if they haven’t had a go. This game is to be played in silence and can be very fun and also quite challenging. It may take certain groups a long time to even get to the number 10.

Crazy Circle

Equipment: None

Description: Students stand in a circle in the classroom. The teacher nominates two students to stand in the middle. The aim of the game is for both students to go crazy and make silly noises and jump around to try and make the other student laugh first. The student who laughs first is out, and a new student comes in to challenge the winner. The only rule is that students in the middle are not allowed to touch each other. Keep a record of how many times the champ wins for an overall winner at the end of the activity.

Doggie, Doggie, Where’s Your Bone?

Equipment: Eraser or small object

Description: Start with two students in front of the room – usually one is sitting while the other is standing. The one sitting closes his/her eyes with their back to the rest of the class. The one standing takes an eraser (or any other designated object) and hides it with one of the other students in his/her desk. Then the whole class sings, “Doggie, doggie, where’s your bone? Somebody’s got it in their home.” The student in the front of the room with the closed eyes then stands up and turns around. The student gets three guesses concerning the location of the bone. If they guess right, then that student comes up and the original student goes back to their seat. Then the game starts again. If the student does NOT guess correctly, then the ‘bone’ is shown, and the game begins all over with the same student still having to close his eyes and guessing again.

Good Morning Judge

Equipment: None

Description: Pick two students to go to the front of the room. One is the picker while the other sits, turned around away from the class with eyes closed. The picker chooses someone from the class by pointing (not saying anything aloud), and that person may get up and move around to another location in the room (if desired) and says, “Good morning, Judge” in a totally different voice. Then that student goes back to his/her seat, the judge opens his eyes, and turns around trying to guess who said the statement. The judge gets three guesses and if the correct person is not chosen the judge is changed and the game repeated.

Frozen Museum

Equipment: None

Description: All students pretend they are statues at a museum and freeze in any position they’d like. One student is the museum guard. The guard walks around the room and tries to find people who are moving, and if they do, they are out and have to go to their seats. The students can only move when the guard is not looking. The students can’t talk or laugh or they will be out. Students can be silly and make faces behind the guard, but then try to freeze really quickly when the guard turns around.

Who’s Missing?

Equipment: None

Description: Pick one student to leave the room. Then pick another student to hide – under a desk, in a cupboard, or even walk out the other door. Then everyone has to get up and sit in a different spot in the room. When all are seated, bring the first student back in and they have to guess who is missing from the group. Swap students around to give everyone a go.